The Center guides OUSD learners through explorative and seasonal Education, Food, and Garden (EFG)-focused field trips that grow students' understanding of the food system and challenge them to become action-oriented stewards of the Earth.
OUSD's Central Kitchen, Education Center, and Instructional Garden/Farm (The Center) is an experiential learning site that features a productive vegetable and herb garden, a greenhouse, an industrial kitchen, and several indoor and outdoor classrooms. During field trips, students navigate these spaces to sharpen culinary skills, harvest and observe edible plants, and think through how farms and gardens connect to OUSD school meals, social inequalities, and the broader food system.
3rd and 6th-grade field trips follow a preset model where learners rotate through seasonal Education, Food, and Garden (EFG) lessons that incorporate garden exploration, harvesting produce, and preparing/eating components of their lunch that day. Examples of station activities include making fresh corn tortillas, building legume trellises, and crafting pressed flower windows.
As a new initiative, The Center is piloting 9th-grade field trips during the 24-25 school year! These field trips will engage learners in garden and kitchen-based biology, environmental, and waste-reduction-centered lessons.
Like in past years, Career Technical Education and project-based classes will also take field trips to The Center. Field trips will involve a farm-to-table style meal which the learners help create, as well as learning stations relevant to their class specialization.
Be aligned to and uplift academic standards, specifically Next Generation Science Standards and History and Social Science Standards
Be aligned to and uplift the nutrition and personal and community health standards from the California Health Education Framework
Be designed to deepen knowledge and skills of the science (FOSS) and developing History and Social Science curriculum (newsELA)
Embrace and integrate principles and themes from the OUSD Ethnic Studies Framework
Incorporate activities rooted in and connected to the OUSD Graduate Profile
Include pre- and post-field trip lessons to optimize student learning and engagement
Be structured around hands-on learning stations that engage students in garden/farm stewardship, culinary/nutritional education, sustainability practices, STEAM activities, and civic/social actions
Feature connection to the school meal program, the school meal menus, and food and nutrition security
Be led by Center Education Staff and partners
Cover transportation costs for school sites
Follow all COVID safety guidelines
9:00 am Departure from School
9:30 am Arrival, Orientation, & Opening Circle
9:45 am Tour of The Center
10:10 am Rotations through Learning Stations
11:45 am Lunch
12:15 pm Clean Up Party!
12:45 pm Closing Circle and Group Photo
1:00 pm Class Departs The Center and Heads Back To School
*Itinerary will be adjusted to match field trip model & can be slightly adjusted to accommodate school schedules
9:00 am Departure from School
9:30 am Arrival, Orientation, & Opening Circle
9:45 am Tour of The Center
10:10 am Rotations through Learning Stations
11:45 am Lunch
12:15 pm Clean Up Party!
12:45 pm Closing Circle and Group Photo
1:00 pm Class Departs The Center and Heads Back To School
*Itinerary will be adjusted to match field trip model & can be slightly adjusted to accommodate school schedules
9:00 am Departure from School
9:30 am Arrival, Orientation, & Opening Circle
9:45 am Tour of The Center
10:10 am Rotations through Learning Stations
11:45 am Lunch
12:15 pm Clean Up Party!
12:45 pm Closing Circle and Group Photo
1:00 pm Class Departs The Center and Heads Back To School
*Itinerary will be adjusted to match field trip model & can be slightly adjusted to accommodate school schedules
9:00 am Departure from School
9:30 am Arrival, Orientation, & Opening Circle
9:45 am Tour of The Center
10:05 am Knife Skills Lesson and Food Prep
10:35 am Learning Stations #1 and #2
11:45 am Lunch
12:15 pm Clean Up Party!
12:45 pm Closing Circle and Group Photo
1:00 pm Class Departs The Center and Heads Back To School
*Itinerary will be adjusted to match field trip model & can be slightly adjusted to accommodate school schedules
Registration opens to OUSD 3rd, 6th, and High School classes each year in August/September and all field trip dates are filled by the end of September. You can also connect with your school's EFG Champion to learn more. If you'd like to be added to this school year's waitlist or next year's sign up list please email centerfieldtrips@ousd.org
Thank you to everyone who brought their classes to The Center for an unforgettable time! To commemorate the wonderful moments we shared, we have put together the 2024-25 The Center Field Trips Yearbook. It captures some of the highlights and joyful memories from our time together. You can access the digital version of the yearbook via this link (the file is large, so you will have to download it!). We encourage you to share your yearbook page with your school community and to use it as inspiration to lead your own experiences in your gardens this upcoming school year!
2023-24 The Center Field Trip Yearbook (compressed).pdf2022-23 The Center Field Trip Yearbook.pdf
